Existing electronic identification methods of cattle rely on traditional radio frequency identification (RFID) devices. With these devices, a wand must be passed nearby (typically within one meter) each animal's ear tag. The short reading range of the existing RFID devices mandated corralling and trapping individual animals. In order to accomplish this, the rancher traps each animal one by one in a working chute. This activity is time consuming and stressful to the cattle. For this reason, producers are generally limited to reading the electronic identification of each animal when scheduled vaccinations or other veterinary practices are required of the entire herd.
Another limitation of the passive RFID devices is that they require inductive, close proximity electromagnetic radiation for power. The wands and panels that supply this inductive power are typically very expensive.